Artists

Sibusiso was born in 1977. As a young boy growing up in a Durban township, Sibusiso enjoyed drawing pictures of animals and cars. The late Trevor Makhoba (a well known Durban artist) invited Sbusiso to his house where he received informal art mentorship for 4 years together with his peer, Welcome Danca. This marked the beginning of Sibusiso’s successful art career.

Sibusiso enjoys painting; he utilizes the medium to express himself and represent his surroundings. His subject matter includes serene landscapes sometimes inhabited by individuals, and depicting his everyday life scenes.

He was born in 1960 in KwaMashu but he later moved to Cator Manor Township outside Durban in KwaZulu Natal. He attended the Dumani Lower Primary School and later continued his studies through the Intec Correspondence College. After completing his schooling, he attended the Khanya Theological Institute Union Correspondence College.

He started painting at the age of seven and his mother continually encouraged the young boy saying it was a family talent, his mother’s brother having been Arthur Buthelezi, one of the earlier generation of African artists along with Gerard Bhengu and the Ntuli brothers.

Khehla works in watercolours, pastels and pen and ink. He is a full time artist and has worked on a number of mural paintings in the city of Durban, including the Durban Station (Greyhound Bus Rank), Durban Central Prison, Lawyers for Human Rights, Umlazi Station and I-Care children’s shelter.

Thulani was born in 1968; he attended his high school in Pietermaritzburg outside Durban. Thulani has a fascination for his surroundings and loves to depict road signs, traffic on the roads and highways near to where he lives.

Since he began school, Thulani recalls being interested in drawing. He has had no formal art training, he is a self taught artist specializing in drawings executed in colored pencils and ball point pen. His drawings are often based on memories; he likes to depict real life scenes based on his pictorial memory. His work often exhibits various places in and around Pietermaritzburg where he once resided. He often refers to these vivid and finely observed drawings as his ‘maps’

Welcome was born in 1978 in Portshepstone, he later moved to Umlazi Township in Durban. In 1995, whilst in Makumbuza High School High School he started art classes and started experimenting with charcoal and pencil. It was when he drew a map on the school black board that a teacher recognized his talent and suggested he attend art classes with Trevor Makhoba. Danca fondly remembers his art classes under the mango trees. His preferred medium is oil and acrylic paint; however he has also experimented with graphic design.

Danca’s subject matter varies, from social commentary to interpretations of the traditional Zulu way of life. Conceptually Danca says he explores personal memories focusing on his rural childhood and how growing up as a child in rural areas contrasts with his current urban lifestyle.

Derrick is a self taught artist utilizing a unique style of approach to painting and drawing. His work depicts intricately detailed unoccupied surroundings in which the element of the imagination is always included.

His paintings and drawings have been associated with issues pertaining to land ownership and symbolize power (or lack thereof) human beings in the natural environment.

He was born in 1975 in Umlazi Township outside Durban in KwaZulu Natal. Lalelani’s talent did not come as a surprise; he was sported by his Primary school teacher at an early age of ten years. His teacher encouraged him to draw diagrams on chalkboards and make illustrations for the class.

He spent time drawing because it was enjoyable and it left him with a fulfilling experience. When he reached Grade11, his class teacher Mrs. Ntanzi introduced Lalelani to the BAT Centre where he attended part time art classes. At the end of this course in 1993, he was granted a bursary to study Fine Art at DUT by a customer who had purchased his first painting.

Lalelani’s paintings are often executed in a unique creative style; he carefully considers formal aspects such as colour and composition. Prominent in all of his artworks is an added element of humor which always enhances his work.

Sfiso was born in Clermont, on the periphery of Durban in KwaZulu Natal on 3 May 1963. He says that he remembers drawing in the sand and modeling cattle from clay as a young boy and drawing geography maps for his friends at school because he was good at it. He attended the Abangani Open School in Durban in 1982 and in 1983 he joined the Little Abbey Theatre where he received formal art tuition for the first time. In 1986, the young artist was employed as a student teacher in screen printing at the Community Arts Workshop, located in the old station buildings in Durban.

In 1989 his career as an artist was bolstered by his participation in the Thupelo Workshops initiated by David Koloane and Bill Ainslie in Johannesburg. His profession was further enhanced in 1988 when the South African National Gallery in Cape Town purchased his ‘Letters to God’ drawing series for their permanent collection.Shortly thereafter the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg purchased the series Letters for my Child. During the 1980’s Ka-Mkame embarked on a new series illustrating the trials and tribulations of women, particularly African women. He openly acknowledges that his compassion and empathy for women stems from the love and admiration he had for his mother.

Victor was born in 1958, he lives in Ntuzuma Township outside Durban in KwaZulu Natal.

He is a full time self taught artist; he paints in acrylic on canvas. Victor started making art at the age of 6 and his talent developed until he mastered the painting medium. His subject matter is characterized by atmospheric landscapes often depicting his township environment. His landscape paintings, executed in painterly loose marks distinguish his paintings and draw the attention of major public and private collectors.

He was born in 1963 and grew up in the Escourt and has been practicing as an artist since the 1980s. Joseph began as a self taught and after being awarded the Tito Zungu Trust Fund; he enrolled at Durban University of Technology (Formerly The Natal Technikon) for a Diploma in Fine Arts. Prior to obtaining his Diploma ha had participated in group exhibitions nationally and internationally.

He had also taken part in art residency programs and traveled to Europe. Joseph has fulfilled numerous mural painting commissions; in Durban his paintings are visibly decorating walls of this city.

Jabulani was born in 1981 in KwaMashu Township outside Durban. He is an active young upcoming artist who works mainly in the medium of painting. His subject matter is concerned with his surroundings and the township lifestyles. Jabulani’s artistic talent was recognized at an early age while he was still at school. While in Grade 11, he entered a Sasko Sam bread competition in KwaMashu Mzuvele High School and won a second prize.

His creativity was awarded in 2004 when his was invited to work with the Mark Galleries at Ushaka Marine World as well as with Art Consultants at Gateway. These accomplishments enabled him to acquire a great deal of experience in the field of art making.